San Diego News

Virginia Beach, Virginia - Sailors with opinions or ideas about how to best develop enlisted leaders are being asked to provide input on two Navy courses that are currently under review, said the review project's leader today.

The Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD) is the Curriculum Control Authority for the Petty Officer Second and Petty Officer First Class Selectee Leadership courses. CPPD administers the courses' content, which is then taught to Sailors by their commands. As part of its course review process, CPPD is conducting a large-scale, fleet-wide research project to assess the current courses' value and effectiveness, according to Don Squibb, outcome and assessment manager for CPPD's Requirements Directorate. The project is called Enlisted Leadership Requirements Review (ELRR).

"We're collecting data for the ELRR project from across geographic regions, paygrades, ratings and communities to evaluate the current state of enlisted leadership training for first and second class petty officers and ask Sailors what training they need," said Squibb, who is the project lead. "We're casting a wide net because we need to define the 'what is' from the fleet's perspective before we can recommend the best possible updates to the training that CPPD provides our Navy's junior enlisted leaders."

The ELRR project consists of CPPD teams visiting fleet concentration areas globally to conduct focus groups, which are each approximately two hours in length. The primary focus groups consist of nine active duty petty officers each (three E-4s, three E-5s, and three E-6s). Additional groups for chiefs and officers are being planned and will be held if deemed necessary after a review of the initial findings from the primary focus groups.

CPPD's focus group facilitators will gather fleet recommendations on delivery and content improvements for the revised Enlisted Leadership Training curriculum. Squibb said the questions center on active duty Sailors' experiences in their current leadership roles. Participants will also be asked to provide ideas for training topics based on their own perspectives of what they believe they need to know, or in the case of more senior petty officers, what they wish they'd known prior to assuming higher leadership positions.

Commands that agree to participate in the project will nominate their focus group participants on the basis of paygrade, according to Squibb. Sailors not selected to participate in a focus group but wanting to voice an opinion can provide their input by completing a survey.

"While the primary focus group participants will be active duty Sailors, Reserve Component Sailors are invited to participate in the online surveys," he said. "The ELRR is focusing on training specifically for active duty Sailors. The training for reserve Sailors will be reviewed at a later, undetermined date."

The online surveys are open to E-1 through O-6 Active or Reserve Component Sailors. Three surveys are planned, according to Squibb. The first survey is currently open and assesses how much time Sailors spend on technical, management and leadership tasks.

"The online surveys will assess relevant issues driving leadership training and professional development requirements," he said.

All feedback will remain anonymous. Squibb said the information CPPD collects through the focus groups and surveys will not be attributed to any single command or Sailor. Narrative comments will be aggregated and quantified for analysis, which CPPD will use to develop course revision recommendations.

CPPD Executive Director Doug Kibbey said the success of the ELRR project is dependent on Sailors' degree of participation.

"We continually look for ways to refine and improve training for the fleet," said Kibbey. "For any of CPPD's course reviews, fleet feedback is key to formulating the best possible training for our Sailors' development and Navy mission readiness. The ELRR project is especially dependent on Sailors' input - in fact it's vital to ensuring we provide the best possible leader development opportunities and relevant training that supports the fleet's needs."

Sailors interested in participating in the first online survey can access it at https://www.research.net/s/LDRSHP_WORKTIME. Links for follow-on surveys will be announced via Sailors' chain of command, as well as through command career counselors, Navy Counselors, command enlisted leaders and Navy College Offices.

For more information about the Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD), visit: https://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/cppd/.